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(No Model.)

H. P. LEONARD.l

WIG.

No. 260,484. Patented Jul;r 4, 1882.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT Tricia.

HENRY P'. LEONARD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

WIG.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofLettersPatent No. 260,484, dated July 4, 1882.'

Application filed October 31, 1881. (No model.)

My invention relates to wigs, and has for its object to produce a wig of good quality more cheaply than by the process heretoforeemployed.

As wi gs are commonly constructed the hairs are attached mechanically to a foundation,

which is previously made of the size-or shape desired, the said hairs being drawn into and made fast in the said foundation.

My invention has for its object to produce a wig in which the foundation is made of the skin of a woolly or hairy animal, andthe hair naturally growing therefrom is retained to form the hair of the Wig. y

In manufacturing wigs in accordance with my invention a strip of the natural skin of an animal having a natural growth of wool or hair suitable for the object intended is first tanned in any usual manner and then properly shaped and fastened upon a wig-block. It is then submerged in a softening solution, preferablyof ammonia, in the proportion of about three Y ounces ofconcentrated ammonia to one quart of cold water, for about two hours. rIhe eect of this solution is to cleanse the wool or hair and at the same time to soften the skin or hide at the roots thereof, so that the hairs can be plucked out without breaking. When removed from this solution the blocked Wig is submitted to a process'of plucking, which consists in pulling out a few hairs at a time here and there, so as to thin the wool or hair, leaving the remainder of uniform appearance and fortable for the wearer, the said 'perforationsubeing wholly concealed from the outside by the covering of hair.

Figure l shows a wig in the process of man ufacture in accordance with this invention, it being mounted upon a wig-block and having the natural growth of wool orhair thereon. Fig. 2 is a view of a wig that has been subjected to the process of plucking, the hair being coarser but more thinly distributed than on the wig shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the wig, showing the perforations at the inside thereof.

'ln the manufacture of the wig a piece, a, of

suitable hide or skinherein shown as that of f the Angora goat, previously tanned with the hair on-is cut and sewed at 2, Fig. 3, to give it the desired shape, after which it is mou'nted on a block, b, and immersed in asolution suitable for softening the skin. Ammonia, preferably in the proportion of three ounces of concentrated ammonia to one quart of cold water, is suitable-'for this purpose, and after being immersed for about two hours therein the wool or hair isthoroughly cleansed and the skin softened at the roots thereof, so that the said hair or wool can be pulled out by the roots. While the skin still remains soft from the et'- fects of the said solutionl portions of the hair Vor wool are plucked out here and there to give the finished wig the desired character.

As shown in Fig. 2, the finer and more ileecy portions of the hair are removed, leaving the coarse hairs, which are somewhat curly and closely resemble a natural growth of human hair. In the course of three or four hours after the skin has been removed from the solution it again assumes its natural dryness and hardness, and the hairs can no longer be detached therefrom. The finished wig is then perforated, as shown in Fig. 3, to properly ventilato it and make it less heating to the wearer, the said perforations .being invisible from the outside, as shown in Fig. 2, owing to the covering of hair.

In some cases the natural hair vwill require IOOV color, and, being a natural growth of hair, it more oloseiy resembles the natural human hair than the wigs in which the hairs are mechanioally attached.

A wig constructed in accordance with this invention can have its hair parted at any desired point or dressed in any desired manner, and consequently it is not necessary to have separate wigs for each position desired for the parting, as is necessary with wigs of usual construction.

I claim- 1.' As an improved article ot' manufacture, a Wig composed of aportion ofthe hide or skin of a hairy or wooll y animal tanned and shaped to lit the head without Wholly removing the natural growth of hair, the Said skin being provided with perforations, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The herein-described process ot' making zo all" 

